Howdy all!

Looking for a TV for the Games room to replace the old fat-back unit... I typically buy known brands, believing that you get what you pay for - and so far I have found this to be pretty well true...

Having said that, I was wandering thru JB HiFi on Saturday and couldn't help noticing the cheap prices of the Soniq brand. Coincidently, I went to a mates for dinner last night and he's purchased a Soniq for his lounge room and is raving about it (features/quality for price).

I did a little Googling and found that they use either LG or Samsung display panels... so that gives me some confidence; but would be very interested to hear if anyone has purchased one - and if so, have you had any problems?? Thanks.

Example:
www.jbhifi.com.au/collections/soniq-tvs

The panel isn't what will fail, it will be the power supply or components around it due to heat. Cheap electronics manufacturers use cheap capacitors, which dry out after a couple of years and then go bang (seen it happen). Also their quality control isn't that great so they sometimes put in capacitors backwards (seen that happen on some daewoo TV's back in the day). They work for a while but then go screwy.

Last year I bought a cheap set top box that was like that -- it wouldn't even do 4:3 aspect ratio. So I took it back and got a different brand, that one lasted six months before the power supply started to provide just a bit too much voltage on the 6.3V rail, which caused the processor to overheat and shut itself down. I could force that rail down to 6.3V with a zener but then the zener would go bang and I'd be back where I started.

But that's chickenfeed compared to what really gives me the screaming heeby jeebies with cheap electronics -- the menu system. On a cheapy these are slapped together with almost no usability testing, little attention to detail, there are probably more buttons on the remote than your computer keyboard, and it really p's me off.

I like a system that has had some thought put into it, every button on the remote is put there for a purpose, as if the designer kept taking buttons off until you're left with what's really important. Which means that you can operate it in low light, or slightly sozzled after a couple too many Also getting the same brand of TV as your blu-ray player and sound system really makes life nice. My sony stuff talks to each other through the HDMI leads so when you put a DVD in, the TV automatically switches to playing it. That's really cool

good luck finding drivers and a native resolution to run that ;-)

Gizmo said...

Just another point on flat screen TV's, before you buy check out the power consumption. Walk into any retailer "touch" and "feel" the screens some are very hot and some are quite cool, the hot screens are using more power costing lots more $$$ both to run the screen and the need for air conditioning to keep your lounge room cool in summer.

Hot TVs are nice in winter though. Summer is for being out and about. Winter is for staying home.

Soniq TVs seem to get reasonable reviews on other forums that deal with TVs like Whirlpool and OCAU. So if the price is right and the it has a good picture then they are good value for money.

busterwa said...

good luck finding drivers and a native resolution to run that ;-)

Why would drivers be an issue for the TV? Most modern operating systems will spot a TV when connected via VGA or DVI. At worst it would be a generic monitor. The resolution is the standard for HD TVs. All 1080p TVs have the 1920x1080 resolution.

Being a waranty service agent for Soniq - I wouldnt buy one.

While the cheap brands may have either Samsung or LG panels, they are generally 'seconds' that do not perform to specs to put in their own models and certainly are not driven but the same quality driver boards, both in design and manufacture.

As for the caps in the power supplies - I would say that 75% of all electronics that use switch mode power supplies (LCD, plasma, dvd, bluray, some audio products etc), caps will fail and cause power supply issues within 5 years. 50% of all our 'out of warranty' repairs would be power supply issues generally caused by failed caps (this can and often will lead to other components failing as well).

In saying all of that - get a tv, whether it be LCD or plasma (my fav is LCD), that has a picture that you like. And most importantly - GET AN EXTENDED WARRANTY. For the extra cash, thay are worth their weight in gold. The odds are that after a cpl of years the parts may not be available and the ext warranty company (basically just an insurance company) will replace the set with a new one.